Stencil-pkiwttfg machine



UNITED STATES FFIQ.

A. J. FULLAM, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT.

STENCIL-PRINTING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADONIRAM J. FULLAM, of Springeld, in the county of IVindsor and State of Vermont, have invented a new and useful Stencil-Printing Machine; and I do hereby declare that the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a top View and Fig. 2, a central and longitudinal section of it.

The common mode of printing or marking by a stencil plate is to lay it upon a flat surface or an object to be marked, and rub an inked brush over the surface of the plate so as to cause the bristles of the brush to pass through the interstices of the plate and against the object or surface to be marked. This process, however', as ordinarily performed, cannot always be profitably employed in printing large or extended surfaces or sheets of paper, particularly, newspapers, circulars, or sheets designed for books or many other purposes, for which my machine is particularly applicable.

By means of such machine, stencil printing can be carried on with great evenness or correctness and rapidly in comparison to what can be effected by the usual hand process above mentioned.

In the drawings, A denotes the frame of the machine which should'be constructed in any proper manner to support the main operative parts which consist of a paper and stencil plate carriage B, and a cylindrical or rotary brush C.

The carriage B, slides between guides a, c, and on ways c, c, and constitutes or upholds a bed d, on which the sheet of paper to be printed or stenciled is to be placed. A stencil plate D, is to be combined with this carriage and for the convenience of applying the paper to and removing it from the carriage, the said stencil plate may be affixed to a frame or tympan O, hinged to the carriage so as to be capable of being turned upward. The rotary brush, C, is placed at the middle of the frame A, and so, that while in revolution and the stencil plate and carriage may be passing underneath it such brush shall revolve in contact with the plate and apply ink to a sheet when laid on the carriage and between the same and the stencil plate.

For operating the carriage and brush, I apply to the brush shaft a pulley F, and a crank G, an endless belt, H, being made to extend around such pulley and another or larger one I, affixed on the shaft of a windlass R, supported by the frame A, and arranged therein as shown in the drawings. Around such windlass, a rope or band M, is wound. This rope is carried around a hook or guide N, or the equivalent thereof, fixed at or near one end of the frame A, and has its two ends crossed and fastened to the two extremities of the carriage B, as shown in Fig. 2. By turning the said crank, the carriage with the plate will be moved underneath the brush whose outer surface ought to travel considerably faster than the stencil plate. By either a forward or backward movement of the carriage a sheet may be stenciled or marked.

For applying ink or marking material to the brush a hand brush may be used by an attendant, as occasion may require, but if desired an inking cylinder or suitable automatically operating inking apparatus may be adapted to the brush and so made to work as to properly supply it with ink.

I do not confine my invention to the afore described means of moving the carriage and the brush, as other well known and mechanical equivalents may be employed for such purposes, nor do I claim a common printing press such as is used for printing by types and which consists principally of a movable bed, a platen and devices for pressing the platen towardV the bed or a form of type when thereon as the printing of paper or other material by such means differs essentially from what is usually termed stencil printing. I would alsoremark that the bed or carriage of my press may have a curved surface or in other words may be a cylinder made to revolve and to either carry the stencil plate or move with it, but I prefer for most purposes the movable carriage as hereinbefore explained.

I am aware, that in a stencil printing` machine flexible or elastic rollers have been used for applying ink to the perforations of the stencil plate. An inking roller or cylinder of such kind is not an equivalent to a rotary brush, for the reason that the latter produces an effect which is not incident to the roller. I'Vhile each will apply ink to the perforations of the stencil plate and to the paper under the same, the roller soon clogs the perforations by leaving ink on their edges, whereas the rotary brush not only applies ink through theperforations to the paper, but operates to brush or cleanse the edges of the perforations and thus always keeps them free from deposits of ink tending to clog or till up their narroWest parts. Thus, it Will be seen that the brush. is more than a mechanical equivalent for the elastic roller, as the former Will produce a new and highly important, and useful effect which cannot be produced by the roller. The inking surfacevof the'brush revolves much faster than thek stencil plate moves but the ink applying surface of the roller can only be made to move with a velocity equal to that of the stencil plate, for should the roller surface be moved With a greater velocity, it would till and clog the perforations With ink and cause the imprint to have a ragged or rough appearance.

I do not claim a stencil printing machine composed of a bed roller, a stencil plate and an elastic roller of the kind exhibited in the United States Patent No. 17340, my invention involving another mechanical feature, viz., a device or means of cleansing the plate and its perforations during the application of the ink or printing material to the paper under suchperforations.

I claim as my invention- A stencil printing or marking machine as composed of a rotary brush C, or its equivalent, a stencil plate D, and a sheet supporter or carriage B, combined together and with mechanism for rotating the brush or for revolving it and moving the sheet supporter or carriage substantially as and for the purpose hereinabove specied.

A. J. FULLAM.

Witnesses L. B. HURD, J. M. FULLAM. 

